The Trustee Senate will look at the challenges scheme Trustees face and ask how they can best address some of these challenges. It will also explore what the future is likely to hold for Trustees and assess the common themes emerging.

This webinar will look at the issue of mental health wellbeing in the workplace – asking the steps employers can take to improve the mental health of their employees; and looking at how things such as early intervention strategies can help.

The US equity investment environment has gradually shifted from active management to passive investing in both institutional and retail channels in recent years.

The US Large Cap Core Strategy provides exposure to quality US companies with sustainable competitive advantages and the ability to generate significant cash flow. We look for the best companies, at the right valuation, and hold for the long-term.

This new paper examines the increased focus on Responsible Investment in all its various forms, and reflects the growing awareness from investors globally that non-financial risks may have a meaningful impact on long-term financial performance.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to Responsible Investment, including the main approaches and the investor landscape.

Investor confidence falls again

GLOBAL - Confidence in investments took a battering this month as institutional investors preferred to hold rather than sell investments, reflecting a pessimistic outlook on the health of the global economy and market fundamentals.

The overall Global Investor Confidence Index calculated by State Street Global Markets fell to a new low of 65.9, down from 75.8. The worst decline was seen in North America, where continuing unease over the sate of the economy and the fall out of the sub-prime crisis and credit crunch contributed to a 10 point drop.

US investor confidence collapsed to an all time low of 65.3, which contrasted sharply with a slight improvement in Europe, up slightly from 83.9 last month to 85.0. Asian investors also remained fairly optimistic, recording a slight fall from 86.6 last month to 85.8.

Harvard Professor Ken Froot, who co-designed the index, commented: "This month, our quantitative measure of global investor confidence established a new low, cementing the evidence that investor risk appetite has been strongly impacted by the one-two punch of the August and November credit crises.

"The overwhelming conclusion from the data is that they are much more sceptical about fundamentals than they were in the first half of the year."

The figures, released by State Street's Investor Confidence Index, were based on an analysis of institutional investor activity on global equities markets.

The index was calculated by the amount of a portfolio investors are willing to hold in equities, with higher allocations equating to a greater appetite for risk, or confidence.

Yesterday, Global Pensions reported the US$250bn CalPERS fund announced a 4% reduction in its equities holdings, reflecting the changing outlook among institutional investors.

The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is consulting on changes to the actuarial assumptions it uses in valuations in a bid to better reflect the bulk annuity market, with schemes set to move into surplus on aggregate.